opening - Austria / II. Republic of Austria 1979 - 2.50 Shilling

The Bregenz Festival was first performed in 1946. Organizer was in the first three years, the state capital of Bregenz, from 1949, the "Festival Bregenz", a private association. The basis for the festival's success was the participation of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra as a permanent Bregenz Festival Orchestra. The Bregenz Floating Stage with its unique atmosphere has been the setting for cultural events for decades, creating a unique backdrop for operas, operettas and ballet. Already in the fifties the festival management recognized the necessity to build a central festival house next to the floating stage. This goal failed first for financial reasons, although as early as 1955 an architectural competition for a suitable festival theater had been tendered. After many years of planning, it was only on the opening day of the 1976 Bregenz Festival that the foundation stone for the Festival and Congress House could be laid. It was designed according to the plans of the first prize-winner of the former festival house competition, Dipl.-Ing. Willi Baum, built and was opened in the summer of 1980.